Giants’ Rafael Devers questioned if he’s ‘forgotten how to hit’ amid brutal start originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The San Francisco Giants are off to a very poor start this season. They’re 13-15, and if it weren’t for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, there might be a lot more heat on the Giants as a whole.
One of the main reasons why the Giants are struggling so much this season is their offense, and more specifically, one player on the offense: Rafael Devers.
Things have gotten so bad for the expensive first baseman that ESPN’s David Schoenfield questioned if Devers has “forgotten how to hit.” While not meant to be taken literally, it’s a sign of how things are going terribly for the Giants.
Rafael Devers questioned if he’s ‘forgotten how to hit’
“Last year, he drew 112 walks, nearly doubling his previous career high,” Schoenfield writes. “This season, he’s on pace for 35. He has also had trouble catching up to fastballs. It’s like he has forgotten how to hit.”
The Giants slugger is hitting .216 on the season with a .562 OPS with 36 strikeouts and only six walks through 28 games.
He’s struggled a ton this season and isn’t nearly as good as he was a year ago or in any year of his career previously.
Schoenfield called Devers the biggest disappointment at first base in all of baseball this year, and it’s not hard to see why.
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His defense is very suspect, so much so that he might not reside at first base come season’s end. But that’s hardly scratching the surface of his struggles this year.
That .562 OPS is a brutal figure, and with his struggles to hit fastballs and his brutal walk rate, there are very legitimate concerns about his production at the plate.
Schoenfield questioning, even if in jest, if Devers has forgotten how to hit, is a sign of just how bad things are this season.
2026 hasn’t gone to plan for the Giants, but no player has been on the downswing more than Devers this season.
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